The Week in Soccer Marketing

A summary of the most exciting news in soccer marketing. If you're trying to keep up, consider this your one-stop shop.

La Liga has announced that its club revenues increased 20.6% during the 2017/18 season to reach a record US$5 billion. This represents the Spanish league’s best financial results in its history. La Liga’s gross operating profit reached US$1.1 billion while operating profit was US$364 million. La Liga attributed the double-digit revenue increase to a significant uptick in sponsorship revenue and revenue from player transfers.

Adidas has extended its sponsorship with Real Madrid, to continue as the club’s official kit supplier until the end of the 2027/28 season. Financial details of the extension were not disclosed, but it has been previously reported Adidas would pay a guaranteed US$1.2 billion over the duration of the deal, making it the most lucrative kit deal in soccer history.

Telemundo Deportesreleased its complete game broadcast schedule for theWomen’s World Cup, which includes all 52 matches airing live, including 21 matches on Telemundo. The broadcaster will be doubling the 2015 coverage, marking the most-ever Women’s World Cup matches on Spanish-language television.

The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), has sealed a multi-year extension with its official ticketing partner Ticketmaster. As part of the extension, Ticketmaster will roll out its new identity-based ticketing platform, Presence, which is set to be installed in more than 500 venues by the end of 2019.

Copa America has signed a content deal with Facebook to produce behind-the-scenes content for all 12 teams this summer. The partnership will allow official tournament profiles on both Facebook and Instagram to produce content from training centers, hotels, and team transportation. “This agreement will enable the production of unique content that will bring all football fans behind the scenes of the world's oldest national team tournament and some of the top stars in today's football,” said Thiago Jannuzzi, competition general manager at Copa America.

La Liga is still exploring the possibility of having a game in the US, as part of its plans to grow internationally, said Keegan Pierce, the league’s UK and Ireland delegate. The Spanish soccer body signed an extensive 15-year deal with US entertainment company Relevent Sports back in August 2018 to roll out a number of initiatives in North America, including the potential to stage a regular season match in the region.

Univision Deportes has established a new broadcasting record during the broadcast of Champions League’s 4 semifinal games. 705,000 people tuned in to watch the games; this is the largest audience for a Champions semifinal game to date. This is the first time since 2013, that a Spanish broadcast of the semifinals exceeds the English ones.

FOX Sports reports that Sunday’s US Women’s National Team friendly game againstSouth Africa saw a 12% uptick over last year’s comparable match, generating 705,000 viewers. On the company’s digital platforms, the average minute audience was up 40%.

US Club Soccerinked a partnership with DICK’S Sporting Goods to serve as the org’s Official Sporting Goods Partner. “We are thrilled to enter into this strategic partnership with US Club Soccer,” adds Mark Rooks, Vice President of Relationship Management & Community Marketing of DICK’S Sporting Goods. “We stand with US Club Soccer’s commitment to developing young athletes both on and off the field.”

MLSwill become the first pro sports league to feature a dedicated channel as part of Pluto TV’s offering of linear, curated channels, courtesy of a new agreement with the channel set to showcase soccer content, classic matches and more. “Major League Soccer’s agreement with Pluto TV offers fans a new way to experience the game and interact with our high-quality content,” said MLS Senior VP of Media, Chris Schlosser.

Ximena Cassab @xcassab

Ximena is a Swiss-Mexican journalist based in Mexico City where she specialized in business, and travel topics. Graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), she has worked as an editor at the magazines Expansión , Aire and Accent, from Expansion Group. Currently she is working with different media in Spanish and English independently. She is a passionate traveler who does not miss the opportunity to see a new place in the world.

Two years ago, the large-format retail store chain Curacao, headquartered in Los Angeles, began to send out automated emails based on customers’ interactions on Curacao’s website. The results have proven impressive, and Curacao plans to roll out new features offered by its automated emailing tool in the coming months.